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Off The Path: Mr. Vanderbilt's Wild Ride

Historical Marker for the first Vanderbilt Cup race on Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park, Nassau County, New York.
Terry Sheridan
/
WSHU Public Radio
Historical Marker for the first Vanderbilt Cup race on Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park, Nassau County, New York.

A dashing young heir to one of America’s most famous families had a dream. He loved to race expensive cars, and he wanted a road tailor-made to do it. He built his speedway on Long Island in 1908. It was the first road in the country designed just for cars. He called it the Long Island Motor Parkway — also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway. For more information on the Vanderbilt Cup races and the Long Island Motor Parkway — and to read Vanderbilt's wild speech in its entirety — visit vanderbiltcupraces.com.

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.